Well, as everybody can see, there is no shortage of opinions on this subject. But now we are left to
ask, "Where do we go from here?"

In a recent Daily Racing Form column, Steve Crist wrote, "It took the industry a decade to turn
account wagering into a dysfunctional, combative mess and it could take nearly as long to straighten it
out."

Well, I'm here to tell you that we don't have that kind of time.

You may recall a bitter labor dispute between the owners and players of Major League Baseball that
resulted in the cancellation of over 900 games, including the 1994 World Series.

It wasn't until 1998 that baseball returned to its pre-strike attendance levels, and it took a near
perfect season by the Yankees - and an assault on Roger Maris' single season home-run record by Mark
McGwire and Sammy Sosa - to bring fans back to the game.

Now I can't help but point out the irony that both players involved in that chase were subsequently
suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs. But that's the second half of the program.

My real point in highlighting this piece of baseball history is that it took America's Pastime
several years to recover from internal fighting and bickering among its stakeholders.

Can racing afford to do the same? I think not.

Companies and organizations throughout this industry have drifted away from collaboration in recent
years, but the view here is that we won't solve this - or any of the industry's many problems - by each
going our own way. We need to resolve our problems in a collaborative and cooperative manner.

We often cite Equibase as the prime example of what can be achieved when this industry works
together.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure we could find the unity to create Equibase today, given the current
mindset that permeates the business environment in this industry.

We are more than just a collection of corporate entities that happen to co-exist in the same
industry. We are a highly interconnected group of stakeholders that together form the nucleus of the
greatest interactive sport in the world. In times like this I think it's important to remember that.

Let me close by reading part of a letter I received yesterday signed by over 400 of racing's most
ardent fans.

"We feel you deserve to hear directly from the people who each and every day pump millions of
dollars into the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing via the virtual mutuel windows. Recently, those
virtual windows have become harder to find for certain tracks, forcing players to either abandon their
favorite venues altogether or register accounts at multiple ADWs. This has led to much frustration and
even anger among bettors who understandably feel their concerns need to be heard at the highest levels of the
sport."

As I said at the outset, we didn't get to this point overnight, and it's unrealistic to think we can
solve our problems in one day. But we must begin to address them together with a sense of urgency - for
the sake of our racetracks, our horsemen, and our fans.

Thank you.

Ogden Mills Phipps: Well said, Alan. We really are grateful to Bob, Joe and David for taking
their time and being here with us today and putting together such very good talks.